I can't tell if I like this and it just hasn't hit me yet or if it fell completely flat. I can tell what the author was going for here, but I just don't think it worked the way I personally wanted it to. Most of the book just felt like nothing was really happening.

At the same time, this is supposed to be a book about grief and loss and dealing with a sister who committed suicide. But at some parts I just felt like it was trying to be a regular contemporary with a hard hitting component, and it didn't work.

It almost feels like this book was ahead of its time. The writing was fantastic so I know the author has it in them to write a hard hitting contemporary, which is very popular right now, but when this was written, it wasn't as popular as it is now.

Overall, would I read this book again? No. Would I suggest it to people? Eh, if they like books with hard topics but don't really care about a deep plot. Would I continue reading this author? Absolutely. I'm excited to see the evolution of their writing.

When I read this one I went in not knowing anything about it. There are times when I really enjoy doing that. I'm glad I did! I loved this book so much and the story pulled me in right away. I couldn't get enough of this book.

Allie´s beloved older sister is dead. By suicide. And Allie is devastated, not just because by the horrible fact that her sister had ended her own life - but because she does not understand, too. They had promised each other that if they ever were to do that, they would do it together. So why Leah had not ever communicated her intentions? Allie feels betrayed, alone in the cold world without the most protective person she ever had in her life. So she tries everything to block her pain - the trouble is, that the pain does not stop, and so are the Leah´s (imagined?) moments of reappearance.
And what had really happened at the party that day?

This one is so sad and impactful book! How horrible can the high school life be - and what is more terrible is the fact that the book just feels very realistic. The cold world without trustworthy adults (because however nice teachers and psychiatrists cannot replace the parents/family), the false friends, the self-obsessed handsome boys, the cruel IT girls. How can one ever find the light? Ugh.
I was impacted by this the most - the cold, lonely world where we live.
And how easy is to try to silence the pain by ready-to-go replacements - alcohol, drugs, sex! Just they are really not the solution, they work just for that moment.

So one should be happy for the seemingly bad boy, who truly cares. And the nice boyfriend who is flawed, but who cares in his flawness, too. And the nice art class classmate. And the one teacher who sees your art talent. And the mother who might start to fight to get her own life back. Because the love, even if not picture-perfect, not like the picture the suffering ones paint for the world to see instead of their pain, might still be here.

Allie is trying to deal with her sister's suicide in this story. Leah, Allie's sister, was not supposed to leave her! They had made a pact to each other that they would always be there for each other no matter what. How can her sister leave her? Allie is not dealing with her sister's death very well. Her parents are hovering over her, her friends are trying to be supportive and all of this just intensifies the grief that Allie is dealing with.

Allie has a problem of taking pills and cough syrup too to help her deal with situations that she would rather avoid. There is a little bit of romance with Nick in this book, but not too much. This story basically deals with Allie and how she reacts to and deals with things after her sister's death. I thought that the author did really well with making this one seem more real life than some I have read. We all would feel like Allie I am sure if we had to deal with the death of a sibling. These are real life issues that were dealt with in a real way.

I thought this was a great read by Stacie Ramey and I look forward to seeing what she has in store for her readers next!

I spent half of this book liking it, and half of the book hating it.

Right until the very end, I felt no sympathy for Leah, at all, and even at the end, it was hard. Allie herself wasn’t particularly likeable- she’s that character everyone says they like so you feel like you have to, but there is no reason why you like her, other than she’s quirky and an artist.

But, I still finished it. So two stars it is.

Have not had the time to read and review. At this point I will not be able to get to it.